A question for "legal eagles",, I f Bu** was complicit with another

[lazer47]

individual in criminal conspiracy, and that individual was later found guilty of conspiracy, then Bu** gave him a pardon, my question is, could Bu** be prosecuted for obstruction of justice? and could congress then overturn that pardon? I belong to a Law group that do mock trials, this scenario was presented last night, and I would value your opinion..

[jmp]

1. No

...

[GrpCaptMandrake]

2. No and No

Please reference the statement of Richard M. Nixon: "If the president does it, it isn't illegal."

That's where this gang is coming from.

Meanwhile, there's only one way to stop a pardon: impeachment.

[lazer47]

3. Can you reverse a Pardon with Impeachment??

[GrpCaptMandrake]

4. Not that either

Pardons are, for all intents and purposes, immutable.

For instance, had Nixon been impeached, he couldn't have been pardoned. Since Ford pardoned him, however, any impeachment was foreclosed.

That was the really sleazy thing about the Nixon pardon: he wasn't pardoned for any particular thing. It was a blanket pardon, unheard of in this country's history until then.

By definition, you can't reverse a pardon with impeachment because (1) impeachment must be for "high crimes and misdemeanors," and (2) the pardon is a de facto lawful act under the Constitution and therefore couldn't rise to the level of an impeachable offense.



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[lazer47]

5. I am not making much head way, Next month I have to defend

the position than he can be prosecuted, in Federal court

[madinmaryland]

6. Just a clarification to your statement..

If Nixon had been impeached and convicted, he could still have been tried in a court of law for his crimes, unless he had been pardoned. Once he resigned, then impeachment was a moot point, as it is only a mechanism for removing a person from office. The pardon was for potential crimes he may have commited that could be tried in a court of law.

[madinmaryland]

7. Two different things

A pardon is for crimes that are tried in a court of law.

Impeachment is strictly for removing a POTUS from office. If he/she is removed then they can be criminally prosecuted.

An no, Congress cannot override a pardon.

[Vickers]

9. Impeachment can be used against any civil officer in the USA

not just the POTUS.

Also, impeachment is not the removal, rather it is more like the indictment in a criminal trial. The conviction (if any) comes later.

Also, a person can be criminally charged/prosecuted without being impeached or removed from office (Spiro Agnew for instance resigned after he was charged with tax evasion ).

[L. Coyote]

8. Yes. In this scenario

If the pardon was of the sort that commuted a sentence WHEN the prospect of the sentence could possibly have been used by prosecutors to secure testimony that would not otherwise be volunteered without the leverage of the sentence to offer to exchange testimony for leniency.